Ilia Topuria shockingly unseats Islam Makhachev in UFC rankings

There’s been some major movement in the official UFC rankings now that the dust from last weekend’s UFC 317 has finally started to settle.

Set as the centerpiece for this year’s International Fight Week, UFC 317 took place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV last Saturday night and featured a stacked card topped by two title fights to close out the night.

Alexandre Pantoja submitted Kai Kara-France to defend his flyweight belt for the fourth time in the night’s co-main event, and in the UFC 317 headliner Ilia Topuria brutally knocked out Charles Oliveira to claim the UFC’s vacant lightweight belt.

Alexandre Pantoja (red gloves) fights Kai Kara-France (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Ilia Topuria & Alexandre Pantoja Climb P4P Rankings

Pantoja made headlines in the aftermath of UFC 317 when he demanded a bit more respect in the UFC’s pound-for-pound rankings, and a few days after the event “The Cannibal” has jumped up four spots and now sits at #5 on the official P4P list.

Topuria also now sits atop the lightweight rankings following his title-winning performance against Oliveira, but the former featherweight champion also received a startling bump to his own P4P stock as he moved past Islam Makhachev and Merab Dvalishvili to claim the #1 spot.

Ilia Topuria (red gloves) reacts after the fight against Charles Oliveira (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Fans were hopeful that Topuria’s move to the lightweight division would set up a superfight with divisional king Makhachev, but the 33-year-old elected to also vacate his 155 lbs. belt in order to pursue a second title in the welterweight division.

Joshua Van Vaults Into Title Contention

Aside from Pantoja and Topuria, the biggest winner from UFC 317 was easily Joshua Van, who defeated former flyweight title challenger Brandon Royval on the night’s main card.

Brandon Royval (red gloves) fights Joshua Van (blue gloves) during UFC 317 at T-Mobile Arena. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

“The Fearless” stepped in to replace Manel Kape just weeks after stopping Bruno Silva with strikes at UFC 316, and after besting Royval via unanimous decision the 23-year-old moved up a staggering 11 spots in the flyweight rankings and is now the division’s clear number one contender.

The only other UFC 317 fighter to really gain ground in the rankings was Tracy Cortez, who now sits at #8 in the women’s flyweight division after she defeated Viviane Araujo and subsequently swapped spots with the Brazilian.

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